our people.

We are not like this because we work here, we work here because we are like this.

Day Dreaming Douglas

We have named Jane Day Dreaming Douglas because Jane is the member of the team who dreams up the development activities for Learning to Inspire. (With a little help from her friends of course!) Jane’s default is to melt into the background and follow her idyllic daydreams, and loves nothing more than getting into her ‘bubble.’ She is devoted to the quest for internal and external peace for herself and for others. She will work to maintain peace of mind just as much as she will work to establish peace and harmony in the world.

One of Jane’s greatest sources of strength is her profound patience and a deep letting be of other people that allows others to develop in their own way. Underneath her patience is a quiet strength and tremendous endurance.

Jane is also the one who will handle a crisis because of her inner stability, the little ups and downs of life do not knock her off balance because whilst everyone else is overridden with anxiety Jane becomes the still calm centre that moves ahead and gets things done.

Warning! All this Zen type attitude is fine until someone pushes her competitive button!! Then whether we are playing a game of cards or pitching for an award, watch the competitive bug rise and stand well back!!

Legendary Lord

We have named Jo Legendary Lord because, of all the team, she is the one that injects passion into the team. She is charismatic and influential and has the capacity to persuade others to follow her. Jo has enormous willpower and vitality and feels most alive when exercising these capacities into the world.

Jo is extremely industrious and action-orientated and can leave us all standing with the volume of work she can consume, whether that is reading European treatise before bedtime, or writing several proposals before setting off in the morning, this is all in a day’s work.

Warning! Do not get into a debate about politics or football unless you are comfortable with losing! Jo loves a good debate and the more heated the better, you have been warned we do not call her Legendary Lord because of her quiet demeanour!

Reassuring Rogers

We have named Elaine Reassuring Rogers because, of all the team, she is more devoted to the quest for internal peace than the rest of us. Elaine genuinely wants to be helpful to other people. She is generous and goes out of her way for others, the love and concern they feel and the genuine good they do means that everyone is drawn to Elaine like bees to honey.

Elaine warms others with the glow in her heart and she enlivens others with her appreciation and attention, she helps others see positive qualities in themselves they had not previously recognised.

She has immense compassion, helps and encourages with infinite patience and is always willing to lend a hand while knowing precisely when and how to let go.

Elaine opens our heart because hers is so open, she shows us the way to being more deeply and richly human.

Warning! Do not get on the wrong side of Elaine…she makes THE BEST cakes EVER and whilst I can think of no reason why she would not share it with you…I would not want to take the risk!

Vivacious Vaughan

We have named Tim Vivacious Vaughan because he is enthusiastic about almost everything that catches his attention, whether it’s a new piece of learning or a plate of food, Tim loves it!

He approaches life with curiosity, optimism and a sense of adventure, and is literally like a kid in a candy store who looks at the world in wide eyed rapt and anticipation of all the good things he is going to experience. He is bold and vivacious pursuing what he wants in life with cheerful determination.

Playful by nature Tim believes in life’s goodness and the joy of existence. A seeker of variety, when unable to decide whether he wants vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream, in the past, he has been known to buy all three!

In short, Tim personifies the quality of Joy. Working and learning with Tim reminds us that we are all meant to experience Joy in our lives; because Tim embodies it so completely, he spreads it to others.

Right Hook Reynolds

We have called Janet Right Hook Reynolds because whilst she will go down with the ship it will only be after one hell of a fight!

Janet is our fighter, she will fight for her friends and beliefs more fiercely than she will fight for herself, and she will defend her family to the death!

When Janet makes a commitment to something or someone she sacrifices much to stick to that commitment. Janet puts in long hours and always gives 110%. Janet is endowed with tremendous endurance and achieves her goals through steady and persistent efforts, if you were to ask Janet she would probably say that success is 10% Inspiration and 90% Perspiration. She gives careful attention to detail and approaches problems methodically and with care. Because of Janet’s underlying vigilance and sensitivity to danger signals she can foresee problems and head them off at the pass.

Warning! Janet is only tiny, and does not seek the lime light. Do not be fooled by her size or quiet demeanour, underneath the values of commitment, cooperation and service is a woman who can fight for what she believes is right and I have heard that she has literally knocked out several men twice her size!

Truthful Thomas

We have name Adam Truthful Thomas because he is the member of the team that wants to find out why things are the way they are. He wants to understand the truth about how the world works, whether that is the automotive world, the marketing world or the world of his inner imagination.

Adam is always searching for the truth by asking questions, and delving into things, usually in depth, with a strong desire to test the truth of most assumptions we make about our business! He is a challenging and creative force in our business and refuses to let us be anything but authentic in our message to the world

Adam will spend a lot of time observing and contemplating and loves to stumble across exciting new information or make new creative combinations. He is someone who has ideas and brings something unusual or insightful to the business and he is not usually interested in exploring what is already familiar, his attention is drawn to the unusual.

Warning! Adam is the most idiosyncratic member of our team and at times you could call him a loner. This does not mean he wants to be alone but there are times when he will only engage with people who interest him or who come baring meat/man flavoured crisps! (Cheese and Onion Crisps also work well!)

Perfectionist Pippa

We have called Pippa Perfectionist Pippa because as our graphics person she believes that nothing less than perfection is acceptable. Pippa’s desire for perfection is coupled with a powerful motivation to be honest. Merely speaking honestly is not enough, as much as possible, Pippa wants her words and deeds to be consistent. This kind of integrity is inspiring and it is a call to excellence that leaves us all affected even when she is telling us that what we have done is ‘distressing!’.

As the designer of our conversation with the world we also value Pippa for her eloquence and elegance when conveying the truth of who we are as a team. This comes from her extraordinary talent of hearing alternative views, understanding what is being said and then translating that into a message in words and images that others understand. In short Pippa holds us all to a higher standard and asks us to do something extraordinary rather than doing something average.

Warning! Pippa’s perfectionist tendandancies means she has a hard time leaving well enough alone! If you want something doing make sure you leave time for her to re-work it…several times, and we have found it best to leave her alone until it is finally finished!!

DJ Joe

We have called Joe DJ Joe because in her spare time she is a real life DJ. Joe is the closest to someone famous that we have on our team.

Joe is our responsible caring team member. As a trainer she is able to achieve a great deal because of her balanced self-discipline, she is hard working and makes really good use of her time by an amazing ability to go into a bubble of self-sufficiency that has the capacity to even block out Legendary Lord!

Joe will put aside her personal comfort for something that is, in the long range, good for everyone involved, and is able to communicate her views to others in ways that they are able to hear. Without Joe’s foresight and sacrifice our team would be a poorer place.

At the heart of Joe is a real educator. Joe is the person who will instill wisdom in the ignorant, uplift the fallen and show others how to do something useful and productive with their lives.

Joe will get very frustrated by inconsistency and will attempt to make all things consistent. This means that Joe will spend huge amounts of her time helping us get our training manuals, schemes of work and resources in order. This trait is invaluable when dealing with Vivacious Vaughan and Daydreaming Douglas, and is the main reason that Daydreaming Douglas will lend DJ Joe her training resources without a second thought because she knows she will get them back in better condition than she lent them! (Vivacious Vaughan hasn’t worked this out yet!)

Warning! Joe is compulsively neat! If you do borrow her resources make sure you take plenty of elastic bands with you to ensure you bundle them up in the same way you received them…EXACTLY the same way!

Hurricane Hughes

We have called Sandra Hurricane Hughes because once you have met Sandra you feel the aftershock! Sandra is our blast of fresh air, with her cutting humour and her relentless energy she makes an impression that is difficult to ignore. The office and the classroom are empty without her.

Sandra is my Sherpa Tensing and she is everyone’s ‘feeder’, we mean that in every sense of the word. She feeds our minds with a constant stream of inspiration (usually sent via email at 3am!) She feeds our bodies with delicious food that she has just thrown together and with recipes that are a chef’s delight. But mostly she feeds our souls with the richness of life and all its bounty.

Sandra is the one you turn to if you feel low and seek out if you want to drink gin! But be warned if you do seek her out to drink gin and she arrives with a bottle of Monkey 47 you may not remember much of what happened!

Ever Ready Evans

We have call Kevin Ever Ready Evans because as part of our trainer team Kevin is the one who will tackle anything! Kevin’s childlike curiosity means that he will delve into anything with wide eyed enthusiasm and passion.

Kevin never takes anything for granted. If he wants to know something, he will ask, and is extremely patient in the course of exploring whatever has captivated his interest. We imagine that when Kevin was a child he would want to know why the sky is blue and why things fall down, and if he wanted to know what was under a rock he would have got out his spade and had a look!

Kevin is someone who has intense curiosity and open mindedness coupled with an ability to be highly innovative and inventive. His ability to explore and play with ideas from paradigms has led to him producing valuable, practical and original works and discoveries.

Warning, Kevin will often serve up his observations of life with a whimsical sense of humour. This mischievous, sprightly and elfin quality means that his stories are addictive and you can find that a lot of time has slipped by in a haze of pleasurable amusement. Make sure you put time aside to be distracted!